ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the role of TiRobot combined with O-arm assisted closed reduction and percutaneous screw fixation in unstable pelvic fracture surgery.Methods:Twelve patients with unstable pelvic fractures, 7 males and 5 females, aged 39.41±12.56 years (range 25-60 years), admitted from January 2020 to January 2021, were retrospectively analyzed. The duration between injury and surgery was 9.67±5.81 d (range 4-24 d). The following are the causes of injury, namely traffic injury in 6 cases, fall from height injury in 4 cases, crush injury in 2 cases. Tile type of pelvic fractures were 3 cases of type B (2 cases of type B2, 1 case of type B3), 9 cases of type C (4 cases of type C1, 3 cases of type C2, 2 cases of type C3). Sacral fractures with Denis division were 5 cases of zone I, 7 cases of zone II. Seven patients were repositioned by intraoperative traction on the injured side of the limb and maintained by fixation with a Starr frame. Two cases were repositioned by intraoperative longitudinal bone traction on each lower limb for fracture displacement. The other 3 B-type fractures were repositioned by inserting Schanz nails into the anterior inferior iliac spine bilaterally. Then, the fractures were maintained with external pelvic fixators. The fractures were assessed by O-arm fluoroscopy. Hollow screws were placed with the aid of orthopedic robotic guidance, and the screw positions were verified by O-arm fluoroscopy again after the nail placement. The duration of each screw placement and operation were recorded. The quality of fracture repositioning, hip function and postoperative complications were observed at the follow-up.Results:All patients were followed up for 8.17±1.99 months (range, 6-12 months). There were 27 screws inserted in 12 patients, with a single screw insertion duration of 19.9±1.8 min (range, 9-31 min). In all patients, one O-arm fluoroscopy was performed in each row after closed reduction and after completion of nail placement. The operative duration was 257.78±80.63 min (range, 160-450 min). The O-arm fluoroscopy after nail placement verified that 23 screws were placed in a satisfactory position at one time, with satisfactory rate of 85% (23/27) for the first nail placement. Two patients with preoperative grade II sacral plexus nerve injury recovered to grade I in one case and grade II in one case. However, the numbness was reduced after operation. No further aggravation of nerve injury occurred after surgery. The quality of fracture repositioning was evaluated according to the Matta score, including excellent in 9 cases, good in 2 cases, and acceptable in 1 case, with an excellent rate of 92% (11/12). At the last follow-up, the Majeed pelvic fracture quantitative assessment system scored 85.75±5.82 (range, 74-96). There were 8 cases in excellent and 4 cases in good. Twelve patients had one-stage wound healing. No complications, such as incision infection, nerve injury, loosening and breaking of the internal fixation occurred during the follow-up.Conclusion:TiRobot combined with O-arm assisted closed reduction and percutaneous screw fixation for unstable pelvic fractures has some advantages, including safety, precision, convenient nail placement, and less fluoroscopic radiation.
ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the clinical significance of excessive inlet view in fluoroscopy-assisted placement of sacroiliac screws.Methods:Included for this prospective study were 47 patients with unstable pelvic fracture who had been admitted to Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Xi'an Honghui Hospital between January 2020 and January 2021. There were 30 males and 17 females, with a mean age of 39.4 years (from 25 to 66 years). By the Tile classification, 21 fractures were type B and 26 ones type C. The inlet view and the angle of excessive inlet view were measured before operation. The intraoperative placement of sacroiliac screws was assisted by C-arm fluoroscopy navigation in the excessive inlet view. The positions of sacroiliac screws were verified by CT or O-arm fluoroscopy after operation. The screw placement time, fracture reduction quality, fracture healing time, and pelvic function at the last follow-up were recorded.Results:A total of 67 screws were implanted in the 47 patients, including 56 sacroiliac screws. The insertion time for each screw averaged 19.9 min (from 9 to 31 min); the angle of excessive inlet view averaged 17.38° (from 12.1° to 24.8°). Verification by O-arm fluoroscopy or CT revealed that all sacroiliac screws were located in the sacral canal without dislocation or breaking through the cortical bone. By the postoperative Matta scoring, the reduction was excellent in 22 cases, good in 17, acceptable in 6, and poor in 2, giving an excellent to good rate of 83.0%(39/47). The average follow-up time for the 47 patients was 9.5 months (from 5 to 15 months); fracture healing time averaged 10.5 weeks (from 7 to 16 weeks). By the Mejeed scoring at the last follow-up, the pelvic function was excellent in 26 cases, good in 15 and acceptable in 6, giving an excellent to good rate of 87.2% (41/47).Conclusions:Fluoroscopy in the excessive inlet view is a simple and easy intraoperative technique. It can improve accuracy and safety of sacroiliac screw placement because it allows clear identification of the posterior border of the sacrum and effectively avoids iatrogenic injury to the sacral nerve caused by screws breaking through the bone cortex.